Monday 9 June 2008

Foxtons - A new branch office in Camden

Not to be deterred by knife crime, a declining presence of estate agents in the high street and a stalling housing market, Foxtons are opening a new branch in Camden. The HouseFund.co.uk reports on the new Foxtons' branch.

Whilst Foxtons have obviously been committed to this for some time, the more interesting point to note is their offer to coincide with the launch. They are offering the first 200 instructions a zero rate of commission.

Many agents would of course like to see 200 instructions and it is novel approach to capture what is left of the market. Indeed, as much as we all have to say about Foxtons I believe this is a shrewd move, namely, try and capture what is left of the market, lay off staff from other offices and absorb the costs.

If anyone at Foxtons is reading, perhaps they would be grateful to pass over the terms and conditions so we can see if this really is a zero rate and a free cappuccino offer.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a former employee, I can reveal this is a very simple scheme. Foxtons will staff the Camden office with around 4 or 5 junior new sales negotiators (ie: graduates with no experience whatsoever) plus a newly promoted and hungry management team.

- There is a fixed time limit (probably mid Sept) for you to get your property under offer. You only pay nothing if an offer accepted before that date proceeds to exchange.
- To qualify you must be on sole agency and erect a board.

Ergo, if the 4 or 5 virgin negotiators have the good fortune to stumble into a buyer before September and Foxton's inflated valuation is affirmed by the surveyor, then you might be lucky. around 5 or 6 of the 200 instructions they have taken on may get the Foxton treatment for free.

The rest will discover in September that they have over-exposed their property for 3 months at an inflated price and will now be contractually bound to pay Foxtons a 2.5% fee on whatever offer they eventually get.

Bon Chance!

Anonymous said...

Actually they started it with 2 experienced sales people who made a lot in those 0% months. The office became one of the top 10 offices in sales almost straight due to how many sales we got during that promo time and afterwards. We got paid the same even though foxtons was getting nothing and got all the trips abroad for hitting sales targets as well.